Stupid Camera Tricks

Submitted by admin on Wed, 12/21/2011 - 12:07

Hoard's Dairyman:

Stupid Camera Tricks

Date:

Wed, 12/21/2011

As editors, we know it doesn’t take much editing to use a comment fully out of context. By cutting the beginning or ending of a quote, whole speeches can be turned on their head. With video, it’s even easier.

David Letterman started a now-popular segment called Stupid Pet Tricks in 1982. The first segment featured a dog who would speak on command. Nothing amazing, right? No, it was pretty amazing (and stupid) as the dog’s “speaking” was actually sneezing. Another dog could answer the phone.

Eventually, Letterman figured out Stupid Human Tricks could be just as fun (and stupid). The segment still airs time to time to this day.

Of course, animal rights activists have been creating stupid human tricks for years. No doubt, some cases of animal abuse captured on film are, unfortunately, real. But, because most videos are captured with poor-quality video, from bad angles, at night, it makes it much easier to make a good situation look bad.

A few of our Facebook fans have posted a video trick we see employed often in the animal rights world: night-vision camera. Watch the below video, and let us know what you think. Which calf barn looks better? The normal version – or the one with “night vision” turned on?

This is exactly why we (and many other great dairy organizations) encourage you to produce some great videos on your own farm and post them on Facebook, YouTube, or send them in an email to your friends. We have to fight fire with fire. The good news is we don’t need to employ any Stupid Human Tricks to make our videos.